Some road users in Awka metropolis have commended the swift intervention of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) sector in Anambra, for bringing relief to road users.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who monitored the cause of incessant traffic jams on Amawbia bypass axis of the Enugu-Ontisha expressway, on Tuesday in Awka, gathered that the situation was caused by some policemen stationed on the highway.Mr Mike Okolie, a bus driver who spoke to NAN, said that the daily traffic jam experienced on the road was worrisome as it negatively affects his business.Okolie said that, though parts of the roads are in bad shape, the major cause of the traffic jam follows the activities of policemen on the road.“
The officers just stand on the road, stop every car that passes and demand for money from some drivers while checking their papers,” he said.Okolie said that the gridlock continued until the FRSC men came and took over the control of the traffic.He appealed to the state Commissioner of Police as well as the Commissioner for Transport to look into the activities of the policemen.Mr Kennedy Agu, another motorist who plies the route to Nnewi, said that the traffic caused by the policemen has defeated the reason they were asked to be on the road.
Agu said that the policemen do not apply discretion at all in the course of doing their job as every bus that passed by must be searched. forcing the drivers to part with money.“The intimidating process is too much.
They even take people’s phone or query them on why they are making phone calls while approaching the checkpoints,” he said.He also commended the officers of the FRSC who came to ensure better flow of the traffic.Agu noted that traffic jam disappeared as soon as the FRSC officers took over.Similarly, Mrs Pamela Igwe, a regular road user along the axis, called on the authorities to look into the activities of the law enforcement agencies, so as not to hinder businesses and movements.
Also, Miss Chisom Chiadikaobi, who runs errands on the road, said that she left home for Onitsha at about 10 a.m. to pick a parcel and had spent two hours in the traffic jam.“Originally if the road had been free, I should be rounding up my trip in Onitsha and be coming home. It is really worrisome to experience such horrible delays,” she said. (NAN)
